USA

By
Compiled from wire service reports by Ross Atkin /
June 11, 2008

Florida growers said Tuesday the state's tomato industryis threatened with "complete collapse" because of concerns with a multistate salmonella food poisoning outbreak that has affected 150 people. McDonald's, Wal-Mart, and other US chains have halted the sale of certain tomatoes. Florida's $40 million crop could rot if the situation isn't resolved soon.

The Justice Department's inspector general reported Monday that the FBI's outdated technology and undertrained workers are to blame for major immigration delays.

To deal with Midwest flooding, the US Army Corps ofEngineers said it would close a 250-mile stretch of the Mississippi River, between Fulton, Ill., and Clarksville, Mo., as soon as Thursday. By Monday, eight sites in central and southern Indiana reported water levels higher than a 1913 flood that was the area's worst deluge.

A "dead zone" off the Louisiana and Texas coasts could grow this summer to a record 10,084 square miles, scientists predicted Monday, based on nitrate levels in the Mississippi River. The excess nutrients spur algae growth, which leads to oxygen-depleted waters, threatening local fishing.

Shuttle Discovery commander Mark Kelly called his crew's mission to the International Space Station a "great success" ahead of Wednesday's departure. Only a few minor problems occurred in installing a large new Japanese science lab and testing a 33-foot robotic arm. Landing is set for Saturday.

Workers with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began releasing the first of 3 million black plastic balls into the Ivanhoe reservoir Monday. The 4-inch balls form a sun screen to protect drinking water from rays that generate harmful bromide.

The Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda,Calif., began a three-day celebration Tuesday of "ping pong diplomacy," Nixon's effort to pave the way to better US-China relations. Some of the American table tennis players sent to China in 1971 for exhibition matches will be reunited with their former Chinese opponents.